I remember the first time I heard about Facebook. I worked for the Indiana University Bookstore in my senior year of college. The job paid minimum wage ($5.15 at the time), but it was the easiest job in the world. I walked about 10 minutes from my apartment to the middle of the IU campus and lounged around for 4-8 hours. Those were the days?
Anyway, one day someone at work told me about Facebook. I thought she said ‘Face Party’ and didn’t think much of it. A few months later, I had an account and used it all the time. 17 years later – but who’s counting? – I think I’ve seen enough to reflect a bit on social media, its impact on my own life, and its impact on the lives of those younger than me.
An Internet-Free Childhood
Okay, everyone. I was born in 1983, so I didn’t grow up with the Internet. It wasn’t even a topic of interest for people I knew until about age 12 or 13. Hardly anyone in my rural Indiana hometown had access until I was maybe 14 or 15. And that was dial-up access. I didn’t have steady, reliable Internet access until I started college.
That means I missed out on lots of great surveillance the kids face these days. And I’m very glad about that! Kids need a space to fuck up, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes. We shouldn’t have an archive of all the dumb shit kids do. We don’t need to endlessly rehash every mistake they make.
I grew up in the rural Midwest. It’s a deeply right-wing area. Despite long since becoming a leftist, I’m still a product of that area. In a way, I have to believe people can change. But they won’t be able to do so if the world holds everything in their permanent record.
Parental Spying
And that’s just what society does to kids through the Internet. There’s also what their parents do to them. Parents hold the tools to endlessly fret over their children, govern what their kids do with friends, iron out any eccentricities or oddities, and punish and control their behavior.
Sometimes parents don’t even do it on purpose. It just happens, and the Internet is what lets it happen. For most kids, freedom is freedom from their parents. It’s why so many kids pass over Facebook or Twitter in favor of forms of social media that allow them greater privacy.
Thankful
I don’t think I have the solution to these problems. Mostly I’m just glad I grew up before the Internet era. At age 38 (nearly 39), I’m one of the youngest people in the US who can make that claim. Some of the side effects of constant Internet use – lack of privacy, inability to pay attention, need for constant stimulation, inability to read a book or take things slowly – never really hit me. I had more space apart from my parents, teachers, and society than almost everyone who grows up now.
I’m thankful for all that.
